90 What Makes a Great CEO in Healthcare Entrepreneurship Today?

How do you take a healthcare innovation from lab to market—without losing your shot at impact? In this episode of CPO PLAYBOOK, Sasha Schrode, CEO of FEMSelect, shares her founder journey from licensing IP out of the University of Pennsylvania to raising venture capital, securing FDA approval, and selling her first company. Now leading FEMSelect, Sasha reveals the hard-won lessons from navigating regulatory hurdles, reimbursement pathways, and clinical validation. She also explains how a personal cancer diagnosis in her 30s reshaped her purpose—and why falling in love with the problem, not the solution, is what separates great CEOs from the rest. You’ll learn: • Why less than 1% of healthcare innovation reaches patients • The 3 filters every founder must apply before building a company • How to test product-market fit with real clinicians • How to think like an investor—and what VCs get wrong • Why the most successful CEOs start as learners Chapters 00:00 The Journey from Diagnosis to Innovation 13:18 Understanding Market Viability and Clinical Need 22:43 The Iteration Process in Med Tech 24:20 Insights on Raising Capital and Exiting 27:24 Common Mistakes in Commercialization 32:00 First Steps for Aspiring Innovators This is your masterclass on building medtech with purpose, discipline, and market-ready strategy. — Subscribe to CPO PLAYBOOK for more conversations at the intersection of leadership, innovation, and capital strategy: https://www.cpoplaybook.com/newsletter Need support scaling leadership or culture? Let’s talk: https://www.cpoplaybook.com/contact-us